Two New Tampa-Made Brands From J.C. Newman
There’s a new sampler from J.C. Newman Cigar Co. and the cigars inside are all made in Tampa at the company’s El Reloj factory, but the real draw of the set are two new brands that have yet to be fully launched: Angel Cuesta Shade and Tampa Smokers.
The set went out last month to retail of the Tobacconists’ Association of America. Inside are 10 cigars:
- Two Angel Cuesta Rosado Toros
- A pair of Toros from The American line
- Two LeRoy Neiman cigars from the 2024 Collector’s Edition
- Two Angel Cuesta Shade Toros (first release)
- Two Tampa Smokers Toros (first release)
This sampler is appropriately dubbed The El Reloj Collection and serves to showcase the capabilities of the El Reloj cigar factory, located on the top level of J.C. Newman’s headquarters in Tampa. While not new, LeRoy Neiman lines are still relatively young brands, as they were released in 2019 and 2023, respectively.
New to the El Reloj portfolio is the Angel Cuesta Shade, which is made with a Nicaraguan shade-grown wrapper, as opposed to Ecuadoran Havana wrapper of the core Rosado line. Underneath is a Cameroon binder and filler blend of tobacco from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. J.C. Newman plans on releasing the entire line in April at the PCA trade show, but is only offering the Toro as part of the sampler for now.
Also new is Tampa Smokers, a cigar brand named after Tampa’s minor league baseball team. It will be officially launched at the start of this year’s baseball season on March 27th, but is included as a sneak preview in the sampler. These Toros are made with a light Ecuadoran wrapper grown from Connecticut seeds, a Nicaraguan binder and filler from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. Like the Angel Cuesta Shade, this sampler is the only way to try Tampa Smokers before its full release.
Only 500 boxes of The El Reloj Collection have been produced. It retails for $240 per set.
“The El Reloj Collection showcases how we are keeping America’s historic cigar-making tradition alive by handcrafting exquisite luxury cigars in the United States,” says Drew Newman, fourth-generation owner of J.C. Newman.
